Esmond



4 Sheets-#Sheet 1.

vE. R. BsMoND. ACLOSED GONDUIT BLEGTRIG RAILWAY.v

,(No Model.)

Ptented Mar, 10, 1.7896.

Esino 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L B d 0 M o N l B.R.Es1\a0N1J. CLOSED GONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 556,311. l f Patented Mar. 10,1896.

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UNITED STATES VILLAM Of CLARKE, OF XV PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST R. ESMOND, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AKEFIELD,RHODE ISLAND.

CLOSED-CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECElFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 556,311, dated March10, 1896.

Application filed October 18, 1893. Renewed January 8, 1896. Serial No.

5741756. (No model To a/Z whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST R. ESMOND, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricRailways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation toV electric-railway systems in which theconductor with which the trolley on the car makes contact is dividedinto sections that are electrically distinct from one another and arecombined with a pick-up, one for each section, whereby the sections areplaced successively in circuit with the source of electrical supply,each section after having` been thus connected remaining so until thetrolley leaves it.

The system to which my invention more particularly refers is one inwhich the circuit through the trolley-conductor is maintained by theagency of an electromagnet energized by the passage of the car over thesection to which the magnet pertains, this magnet (usually a solenoid)serving when energized to hold its armature (orcore) in a position inwhich main supply-circuit or motor-circuit is closed through thetrolley-rail or conductorsection. 1

The object of my invention is to render more sure and certain the actionof the magnetically-controlled contact through which the motor-circuitis completed.

I will iirst describe, by reference to the accompanying drawings, thenature of my improvements and the best way now known to me of carryingthe same into effect, and will then point out in the claims thosefeatures which I believe to be new and of my own invention, and which Idesire to secure by Letters Patent.

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical central section ofa portion of one section of a surface trolley rail or conductorembodying one form of my improved pick-up contact. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe pick-up box with the cover removed. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3,Fig. 2. Fig. 4t is a section on line Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section ofthe joint between two sections of the trolleyrail. Fig. 6 is a sectionon line 6 6, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a plan, with the cover removed, of a pick-up box, in which theinitial movement of the motor circuit-closing contact is obtainedthrough the agency of a solenoid in a closed shunt. Fig. 8 is asectionon line S S, Fig. 7, representing the main contact open. Fig. 9 is alike section of a portion of the box representing the main contactclosed. Fig. l() is a section on line 10 l0, Fig. 7. Figs. l1 and 12 aresectional views illustrative of the manner in which the invention can beapplied to conduits such as are used in ordinary cable systems.

The system in its general details is similar to those systems in which asectional trolleyconductor is used in combination with a pickup. I havetherefore deemed it unnecessary to represent the car, the track-rails,and their connections.

The trolleyconductor is a surface conductor laid as a raillongitudinally of the roadway and between the track-rails. It iscomposed of metallic sections or rails A of inverted-U form embedded inasphalt or other suitable non-conducting material a, laid uponlongitudinal stringers B, formed as shown in cross-section, Fig. fl,these stringers beinglaid upon and secured to main stringers C, whichare to be secured to the cross-ties of the trackway, or to be otherwisesuitably supported and held in place. The trolley-rail sections A aresuitably insulated from each other, as indicated at b, Figs. 5 and 6,and they form a housing for th'e motor-circuit feeder-wires D, which arestill further protected by being held in longitudinal grooves formed ina longitudinal wooden beam also embedded in the asphalt a, Figs. l and4. Each section of the trolley-conductor has a pick-up box E containinga solenoid, the coil F of which is formed by one of the feeders D andthe core Gr ofl which serves by its movement to make and break thatcircuit.

The boX E is provided at each end with flanges c, which are secured toand received between the adjoining ends of the trolleyconductorrail-stringers, and its cover E"(of conducting and preferablynon-magnetic material) is formed as a continuation of the trolley-rails,and is connected electrically to the abutting ends of the saine bystraps d, Fig. 4i.

From the feeder-wires, as at D, Fig. 2, coninactive, the core (being atthis time entirely independent of and lifted above the counter.balance-lever) drops at once by its own wei gift meeting and bringing upagainst the conm terbalance-lever, which is thereby returned to itsnormal position.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 7 to ll.` inclusive, the initialupward movement of the core is due, not to a pick-up magnet on the car,but to a high-resistance solenoid I contained in the pick-up box E andincluded in a shunt from the motorcircuit feederwire around the mainsolenoid already described, one end of the coil of the high-resistancesolenoid being connectcd'to the motor-circuit at t' and the other end ofsaid coil connecting with a conducting-strip 2f', which has permanentcontact with cover E. Under this arrangement the shunt-circuit iscompleted through the trolley as soon as thc latter enters upon thesection to which the pickup box pertains, and the high-resistancesolenoid I consequently is energized. he core J of this solenoidoccupies the position and has the function of the counterbalancc-weightII in the arrangement previously described, and like that weight it isconnected, as indicated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, to one arm of alifting-lever II, the other arm of which cxtends under and contacts withthe bottom of the main solenoid-core G. The core J when all the partsare out of circuit about counterbalances the weight of the mainsolenoid-core G when the latter is in its lowest position, as seen inFig. S. As soon as the trolley on the car enters the section to whichthe box pertains, sufficient current passes over the shunt through thehigh-resistance solenoid to energize the latter, With the effect ofdrawing down its core .I and (with the mechanical assistance aiforded bythe weight of that core)to instantly lift the core G of themotor-circuit solenoid F far enough for it to make contact with ailexible conducting-strip e, depending from and in electrical connectionwith the conducting trolley-rail on top of the box. The motor-circuitthus being established the main or motor-circuit solenoid-coil F is atonce energized and by its action completes the lifting action, drawingthe core F up against the top of the box and compressing the iiexiblecontact-strip e, as seen in Fig. 9. Vith the motor-circuit thusestablished very little current will pass over the high-resistanceshunt, barely enough at most to hold the shunt-counterbalance core inthe position it occupied when the main comparatively low resistance mainor motor-circuit solenoid-coil took up its Work and completed the upwardmovement of its core G. Thus the core G, so long as the circuit ismaintained, will stand with its bottom some distance above the end ofthe counterbalancelever beneath it and will be absolutely unrestrainedand free to drop as soon as the motor-circuit is broken, thus insuringthe instantaneous opening of the contact controlled by it as soon as themotor-circuit is internection is made with one end of the solenoidcoilF, while the other end of the coil is in communication at D2 with thecore G, slackwire D3 being left between the coil and the core to permitthe free and unimpeded movement of the latter.

Then the core has dropped to the position shown in Fig. l, circuit ofthe trolley-rail section to which it pertains is interrupted. As soonhowever as the core is raised so as to contact with the cover E', themotor-circuit is complete (assuming the trolley-wheel to be on thatrail-section) and will so remain until the trolley passes oif from thesection. The coil F being energized will hold up its core so as tomaintain the contact until the trolley quits the section. Then, the coilbecoming inert, the core will drop of its own weight, thus breaking thecontact which is made by its movement.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. l to 3 the upward movement of the corerequisite to make the contact is effected by a magnet orelectromagnet onthe car, which as it passes over the cover acts to lift by itsattraction the core G. It is my object to facilitate and insure thismovement of the core. To this end I combine with it a counterbalance soa1- ranged that the weight of the core when the latter is in its lowestposition will be about connterbalanced, the device shown by me for thispurpose consisting of a lever I'I'pivoted at d to an insulated bearingon the bottom of the pick-up box, having one of its free ends (which isarmed with insulating material,) as for example with the roller 71, ofinsulating material extending under the bottom of the core andcontacting with the latter at about its center, and having on its otherfree end a weight II/ so proportioned with respect to the leverage thatwhen the lever is about horizontal and the core is at its lowestposition the weight will just about counterbalance the core. Thus whenthe pick-up magnet on the car iniiuences the core there is but little,if any, weight to lift, and the weight by its action supplements theattraction of the magnet to instantlye throw up the core. In this waythe motor-circuit is completed through the contact controlled by thecore with very great rapidity and certainty. Rapid initial movement ofthe core is thus obtained, the combined effect of the magneticattraction and the counterbalance being to carry the core up against thetop of the box and to a position where it will be above and out ofcontact with the short arm of the counterbalance-lever beneath, thelever having on it a stop-piece 7L, (of non-conducting material.) bywhich the drop of its weighted end is arrested before the core reachesits contact. The instant the contact is made (the trolley being now uponthe rail-section) the motorcircuit is completed, and the solenoid-coilF, being in that circuit, holds up the core and thus maintains thecontact until the trolley quits the section. Then, the coil becoming IOOIIO

rupted from any cause. I remark here that l can employ this sameauxiliary or initial flexible contact e in the arrangement shown in Fig.l, using the combined force of the pickup magnet on the car and thecounterbalanceweight H' to lift the core G up to the contact e, and thencompleting the lifting of that core by the action of the solenoid-coil Fenergized through the closing of the motor-circuit at e.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 7 to 1l there is but one feed-wire K,which is carried in insulated housings on the side of the box, and fromwhich connections areA made in any suitable way to the main and shuntsolenoids in the pick up box. Under this arrangement the trolley-railcan be a mere solid rib or rail of conducting material, as indicated at0c.

The ease with which my invention can be applied to existingcable-conduits is exemplified in Figs. 10 and 1l. The feed Wire or wiresand pick-up boxes are carried by brackets L arranged in the conduit, asseen in Fig. 10, in which is represented a trolleyM reaching downthrough the grip-slot in the top of the conduit to contact with itsrail. These brackets also carry the solid trolley-rail sections whichare carried by suitable insulating-supports y.

Having described my improvements and the best way known to me ofcarrying the same into effect, what I claim as new and of my owninvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the trolley-rail or conductor section arranged toform part of the motor-circuit, the electromagnet or solenoid having itscoils included in said circuit, contacts in the motor-circuit controlledby the armature or core of said magnet or solenoid, and acounterbalance-weight and system of leverage for said armature or core,under the arrangement and for joint operation substantially asset forth.

the motor-circuit, the main electromagnet or solenoid having its coilsincluded in said circuit, the armature or core of said magnet orsolenoid controlling contacts in the motor-circuit, the auxiliary magnetor solenoid included in a comparatively high-resistance shunt, thecounterbalance-Weight connected to or forming the armature or core ofthe auxiliary magnet, andthe system of leverage connecting said weightwith the armature or core of the main magnet, substantially as and forthe purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination With the trolley-rail or conductor section, the mainsolenoid, the shunt-solenoid and their circuit connections, thecounterbalance-weight and system of leverage connecting the cores of thetwo solenoids, and a flexible or yielding` initial contact included inthe motor-circuit, and closed by the initial movement of the mainsolenoidcore due to the combined action of the shuntsolenoid and thecounterbalance-Weight, substantially as and for the purposesher'einbefore set forth.

4. In an electric-railway system of the kind herein described, thecombination with the main solenoid and its core of a weightedcounterbalance-lever, adapted to exercise lifting action on the core,but having no positive connection with said core, thus permitting thelatter to be lifted aboveand out of contact with vthe lever,substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand before two subscribingwitnesses this 14th day of October, 1893.

ERNEST R. ESMOND.

Witnesses WM. C. CLARKE, LEWIS A. CHAMPLIN.

